Researching French Waldensians

No updates have been made to this web site since Dec 2012. More up to date information is availabe at the new web site of the Piedmond Families Organization at Waldensian Families Research. Please click on the above link for the latest information and assistance.

NOTE: After the Reformation, most Waldensians in France
were quickly absorbed into the local Protestant church. In such cases, you
will need to seek these ancestors in the records of those churches, or in the
local civil records. For assistance, see the BYU Independent Study course,
Huguenot Research and whichever of the series of Independent Study courses
about French research applies to your particular research objective.

Some Waldensians lived in France rather than in the Piedmont
Valleys. After the initial flush of persecution from the Inquisition in the
fourteenth century, most French Waldensians lived either in Dauphiné (the
modern departments of Isere, Hautes-Alpes, and Drome) or in Provence
(Basses-Alpes, Var, and Bouches-du-Rhone).

We first mention sources for Dauphine and Provence, and
then highlight sources you should consult regardless of where your Waldensian
ancestors lived in France.

This Waldensian parish register, which includes the
surrounding hamlets, was not microfilmed with the others. Therefore, the
families were not included in the
Piedmont Project.

But the Mentoulles parish register has been published in
the Bulletin de la Societe d'Histoire Vaudoise (since volume 40,
1919, called the Bollettino della Societa di Studi Valdesi). The
register, generally covering June 1629 through October 1685, was printed in
volume 22 (1905), pages 51-292. A detailed index of names is included.

Records for the year 1674 were missing from the register,
but the French government at the time had required that a civil copy be
registered. The civil copy for 1674 was later found and printed in
Bollettino volume 133 (1973), pages 49-56.

The PFO extracted the printed Mentoulles parish register
(including 1674), much like the other parish registers had been extracted
in the Piedmont Project years earlier. However, this time the results were
not placed on family group records, because the FHL wasn't accepting
additional family group records at the time.

Everyone in the Mentoulles register with enough information
to identify them was included. Therefore, you can find individuals from the
Mentoulles area in the familysearch.org database, but they are not grouped
into families. To find siblings, you will need to use the indexes in the
printed version.

Because the entries identify other relatives, you should
obtain a copy of the entire entry.

The only access to the printed register is at the FHL in
Salt Lake City or through Interlibrary Loan.

If you cannot get access the entire volume, you may wish
to begin by requesting a photocopy of the index(es). An index of "married
persons" is found on pages 253-264; the index of individuals covers pages
264-287. From these indexes, you can determine which pages in the body of
the register you need to have photocopied.

In 1911, a Waldensian descendant, David Bonin,
published the register of the birth, marriage, and death records of
the Waldensians in Pragelato (Pragela). The title is Urkunden
zur Geschichte der Waldenser-Gemeinde Pragela (Magdeburg:
Verlag der Heinrichsofenschen Buchhandlung, 1911). The entries are
in French, whereas the introduction is in German. The FHL film
number is 1183712 item 6. (We have not compared this record to
the Mentoulles parish register; they may or may not overlap.)

Cameron, Euan. The Reformation of the Heretics:
The Waldenses of the Alps, 1480-1580 (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1984). A detailed exploration of the persecution of the Waldensians
in the Dauphiné, this work is more historical than genealogical. But
individuals and families are mentioned, and it's a good source for
family history in the area. If nothing else, it can identify where
those people lived, permitting you to try other sources, such as
notarial records (see below).

Cameron's book is no longer in print, but your closest
library participating in the Interlibrary Loan program should be able
to borrow it for you.

NOTE: Cameron's claims about the dating and meaning of the synod
at Chanforan in 1532, where the decision was made to adhere to the
Reformation, have not been accepted by other historians. Further, he
limits too severely the sources of information he is willing to consider.
This attempt to eliminate sources that may bias his findings results
in an unfortunate counter-bias that skews some of his historical
conclusions. But the book is useful for family history; just don't
accept everything he says about Chanforan or what the Waldensians
believed.

Arnaud, Eugene. Emigres protestants dauphinois
secourus par la Bourse Francaise de Geneve de 1680-1710
[Protestant Emigrants from the Daupine Assisted by the French Bank
of Geneva from 1680-1710]. (Grenoble, 1885). Alphabetical listing
of those assisted.

I've only found this book at the Library of Congress,
which wouldn't loan it even through Interlibrary Loan; but you can
order a photocopy of pages of a specific letter of the alphabet,
representing the surname(s) of interest to you. Your local library
may be able to assist you to request the photocopy, or go to
http://www.loc.gov/ (the Library
of Congress Internet site).

Audisio has searched the notarial records of Provence
broadly and deeply and his references are worth pursuing.

"La Valmasque," Bulletin de l'association d'etudes
Vaudoises et historiques du Luberon. (FHL: Europe 944.92 H25v)
This small journal has published lists of the Waldensians/Protestants
who were forced to abjure after the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes

Here are some examples of the localities where abjurations
have been published so far:

Note that, unless a young man subsequently escaped to
settle elsewhere, these folks became Catholic and most of them stayed
Catholic. But these records are filled with Waldensian surnames, clearly
related to other Waldensians, and may give you clues.

The FHL subscribes to this journal, but the issues have
not been microfilmed. It may be available through Interlibrary Loan, but
probably the simplest access is to use the FHL photocopy service.

You must provide to the FHL the call number, name of the
book or periodical, and the specific pages to be copies. NOTE: The FHL
doesn't have the staff to try to find which pages might be helpful to
any given patron. To obtain this service, you *must* provide the
specific information that permits them quickly to find the volume on the
shelf and photocopy the exact pages without searching. You will be
notified of the charges for the copies and postage.

Regardless of which area of France your Waldensian
ancestors came from, you should check the notarial records of the French
department they lived in. French notarial records are among the richest
in Western Europe. Some French notarial records go back to the 1300s and
even before.

Some of these records, such as the marriage agreements
and wills, contain great detail.

At some times and in some places, Waldensians were
disenfranchised. In such situations, they couldn't make legal documents
such as are found in notarial records. But you won't know whether or not
your ancestors are included in the records until you look.

Search the printed volumes yourself. The books are
titled Inventaire sommaire des archives departemenatales de
(name of the department) [Summary inventory of the departmental
archives of (department name)]. Typically, each department has several
series of records, so you need to find those with the records of
the notoires (notaries). A list of hospitals, or minutes
of town meetings in the 1700s discussing local taxes, won't help
you much.

The FHL in Salt Lake City has many of these volumes, but
they have not been filmed. According to the Union List of Serials
and Mansell's National Union Catalog, the following libraries also
have at least some issues. You may be able to borrow volumes of interest to
you.

Another very useful source are a few of the articles
in the periodical or journal called the Bulletin (Italian:
Bollettino). It is published by the Societa di Studi Valdesi
(Society for Waldensian Studies), formerly known by the French name
Societe d'Histoire Vaudoise (Waldensian Historical Society).

The journal was originally published in French. After
some years with articles in either language, Italian became the standard
with volume 40 (1919).

Following are some of the lists and articles in the
Bulletin that may reveal information about your French Waldensian
ancestors or their relatives. Depending on your language abilities, you
may not be able to understand the whole article, but at least you can
skim the lists and recognize the names of interest.

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